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Thunderbird is Mozilla's free, open-source email client, capable of sending rich-text messages by using HTML. When you open a Thunderbird message, it operates like most rich-text editors: you select formatting options from a toolbar and it changes the appears of your message. However, if you want to use HTML to format a message, Thunderbird offers a tool that allows you to insert as much or as little HTML code as you want.

1.

Open a new message by going to the "File" menu, navigating to "New" and selecting "Message." You can also do this by pressing "Ctrl" and "N."

2.

Click the body of your new message. Go to the "Insert" menu and select "HTML..." There is no keyboard shortcut for this option. Certain versions of Thunderbird might not have the traditional file menus, but instead have a globe button to the left of the "Send" button that you have to press to see the traditional menu options.

3.

Enter your HTML in the pop-up box. You can compose an email with basic formatting, such as

To whom it may concern.

Or you can use more complex formatting and styling with

elements and the "style" attribute, e.g.

You can even insert images, so long as they have an external URL; for this you can use your own Web space, or websites like Photobucket. This gives you the power to create dynamic, visually-appealing emails. Once you press "OK," the HTML will be rendered in the body of your message. To edit the HTML once you've entered it, highlight the area and select "HTML" from the Insert menu.

References (1)

About the Author

Ashley Poland has been writing since 2009. She has worked with local online businesses, supplying print and web content, and pursues an active interest in the computer, technology and gaming industries. In addition to content writing, Poland is also a fiction writer. She studied creative writing at Kansas State University.

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Poland, Ashley. "How to Use HTML in Thunderbird." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/use-html-thunderbird-44865.html. Accessed 24 May 2019.

Poland, Ashley. (n.d.). How to Use HTML in Thunderbird. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/use-html-thunderbird-44865.html

Poland, Ashley. "How to Use HTML in Thunderbird" accessed May 24, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/use-html-thunderbird-44865.html

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